Chargers' Mathews suffers minor injuries in two-car crash

San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews was in a two-car accident late Monday, resulting in minor injuries that prevented him from practicing Tuesday.

U-T San Diego, speaking with California Highway Patrol Officer Mary Bailey, reported that the 24-year-old Mathews lost control of his 2010 BMW and hit another vehicle as he was entering the freeway near the San Diego Sports Arena.

Neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be involved, according to Bailey.

Mathews was taken to a local hospital to be examined. The person in the other vehicle was not injured.

Mathews, who called the collision a "freak thing," said he was hurrying to the team hotel after watching a movie at home. He elaborated on just how badly he was hurting Tuesday morning.

"I felt like I played about four games when I woke up," Mathews said.

Chargers coach Norv Turner said Mathews' playing status is day to day.

"There was no violation of our curfew," Turner said. "We're very fortunate that Ryan or no one else was hurt in the accident. Unfortunately, there are automobile accidents at times. We all try to learn from our different situations. I'm just very thankful he was not injured and the other party was not injured."

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.

About Nate Davis

Nate Davis is a reporter, blogger and editor who's been at USA TODAY since 2000. He has covered the NFL since 2005. No, he did not play quarterback for Ball State. Davis' succession of our esteemed colleague Sean Leahy at The Huddle is considered a Brady-for-Bledsoe swap by most "insiders."More about Nate